


To Melt Your Icy Heart

by Yumiinyaa



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Dark Magic, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairy Tale Style, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Game: Kingdom Hearts I, Game: Kingdom Hearts II, Hurt/Comfort, Legends, M/M, Retelling, SoRiku Week, Soriku Week 2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28019982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yumiinyaa/pseuds/Yumiinyaa
Summary: The Snow Queen ruled over black small creatures named the Heartless. She was powerful, unfriendly, and her heart was icy, living up to her title. The Snow Queen, despite the number of Heartless serving her, felt lonely, and people believed she wished someone would stay with her. However, and because of her powers and the circumstances she lived under, being the queen of a frosty castle and all, no one managed to stay alive near her for too long.Riku, after being hit by shreds of a mysterious mirror and changing entirely, left willingly with the Snow Queen. Sora, upon realizing Riku might still be alive and not dead as people around the town had assumed, went on a long journey to find his friend.(A retelling of The Snow Queen, featuring Sora and Riku!)
Relationships: Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. Sora & Riku

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was looking up stories to retell the other day, and read about the Snow Queen. I have heard of it, but never watched the movies or read the story. Upon realizing how similar Gerda and Kai are to Sora and Riku, I just felt like writing a retelling featuring my two precious boys. Oh, just to point out: Sora and Riku are around 14-15 in the beginning of this story.
> 
> This is a retelling, so I tried changing things to match Kingdom Hearts and its characters. The general idea stays the same though. Psst: you may have guessed it already, but the Snow Queen in this story is Maleficent, though I might never mention it and just call her the Snow Queen lmao. And yeah, I know Aqua said what she said to Sora when they were kids but yeah, it's different here~
> 
> I have enjoyed researching and planning for this fanfiction, so I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it! Kudos really make me happy T^T Thank you!

**_Prologue_ **

Once upon a time, in _the Kingdom of Hearts_ , Xehanort, an eccentric scientist, was working on a project that could change the lives of many, for he had created a unique mirror. One that failed to show the goodness in people, and only reflected the darkness that lurked deep inside their hearts. Upon realizing that his colleague had come up with such a devilish mirror, Eraqus decided to convince him the mirror must be destroyed. Their talk, however, turned into an argument. They were partners with different ideas and beliefs. While Eraqus believed the light outshined the darkness in people’s hearts, Xehanort thought the latter would always prevail. Much to Eraqus relief, the mirror accidentally broke, but because it was infused with dark magic, the tiny shreds ended up scattered around the kingdom. They were just like snow flakes, too small and light no one would notice their existence. Little did the scientists know of what those shreds caused to whoever came into contact with them.

~~~

**_Chapter One: Sora & Riku_ **

The rays of the sun sneaked through the gap between the two ends of the curtain, reaching out for the owner of the room and ending up warming his cheeks. The boy, now that he was near the edge between the land of dreams and reality, stirred in annoyance and flipped on his side, facing the other direction where the door was. He nuzzled deeper into the pillow, slowly running towards the land of dreams once again. However, the rays did not give up their attempt to wake the boy up, attacking his back and heating it up next. It was a hot summer day, and while the boy loved this season, he hated how hot the weather could sometimes get. Nevertheless, he was having a good dream, in which he was goofing around with another boy of his age. He ignored how hot his back had become from the ever-shining sun, and continued to sleep in content.

Suddenly, a sound came from outside. A silhouette stood in front of the window, blocking the sun. The person pushed the window open, for it was not even locked. He climbed inside with ease, and walked towards his victim, who was not aware of his presence. He moved around until he stood at the end of the bed, where he could complete his first task of the day. The boy’s feet were not hidden under the blanket, and that gave his visitor a golden chance. The moment his fingers touched the sole of the boy’s left foot, tickling it excitedly, he jolted with a yelp. He did not just cross the edge to reality on free will. No, he found himself being pushed towards it aggressively.

“Rikuuuuuuu!” The boy whined, shuffling in his twin bed in hope he could escape his usual share of tickling given to him daily.

Riku just chuckled in amusement, and continued to tickle the boy’s foot like his life depended on it. The boy called Riku again, getting frustrated now that he was not listening to his plea. Just when he arose from the bed and clutched his pillow to throw it at Riku, the latter raised both hands in air as a sign of resignation. The boy let out a sigh of relief and let his body descend again.

"Sora." Riku called him, crossing both arms.

Sora only rolled over his side, hugging his pillow. He hoped Riku would just leave him be, or at least let him sleep for a bit more, but he knew that was impossible.

"Sora."

It was probably around 9 am. Why did he have to wake him up this early _every single day_?

"Sora!" Riku shouted.

Sora squeezed his pillow, and tried to answer while burying his face into it. Riku had to focus to get what he had said.

"Let me sleep!"

He heard him exhale, then silence engulfed them for a while. Footsteps echoed in the room next, indicating Riku was walking away from the bed. Sora followed the sound, noticing it was getting farther. He sighed in relief, believing Riku had miraculously accepted Sora's demand. Soon enough, he heard a clang, and immediately presumed he was right, because that was definitely the window closing.

He started preparing his mind to shut, and his senses to calm down as the gate of the land of dreams showed up again. Just when he smiled in pleasure, his feelings dancing around inside his heart celebrating his victory against his friend, he felt the bed dipping, like someone sat on it.

_Oh no._

Riku did not leave.

Sora gave up on his attempt to fall asleep, but refused to face the other direction and see what Riku was up to. He was sitting on the other side of the bed not occupied by Sora, so he was not planning on tickling his feet again. That mattered because Sora was not in the mood for another dose of that cruel punishment.

Seconds stretched to minutes afterwards, yet nothing happened. Sora tried to figure out what Riku was doing. He usually tickled his weak spots until Sora had no energy to fight back that he would give up and listen to whatever Riku wanted. He could count the number of times he won a silly competition between them on one hand. Sora assumed, taking that into consideration, that Riku was up to something. The whole ordeal stirred his string of curiosity it did not stop swaying left and right.

The bed creaked, and Sora supposed Riku was changing positions. But that was it. Silence ruled over again.

Moaning, Sora snapped, turning over to face his friend. Riku was lying on his side, smirking and leaning on his elbow while his cheek was resting on his palm. Sora raised his brow, unamused.

"What are you doing and why are you smirking?"

His smirk vanished, and was replaced by a soft smile, "Just waiting for you to wake up, sleepyhead."

Sora huffed, "By staring?"

"Yup."

Sora let his eyes shut again, holding into his blanket and rising it to cover half of his face. "Can't you wait in your room?"

Their houses were literally stuck to each other, and since both of their rooms were in a garrets of buildings with adjoining roofs, they could move from one to another if they just stepped over the gutters of their houses. They never had to bother with getting out of the house to see each other every day. It was also why they usually left their windows open. It was mostly Sora though, as Riku did not prefer to leave his unlocked. _"What if a burglar got in and killed me in my sleep?"_ Riku would say whenever Sora complained about it.

Riku allowed that smirk to take over his lips, "Nah. I will gladly wait here."

"That's creepy." Sora groaned, his whole face hidden under the blanket now. Only the wild spikes of his hair were visible.

"Creepy is my new style if it annoys you then."

Riku always managed to find new methods to tease Sora and they succeeded every time, certainly because Sora was fun to provoke.

"So you are saying you are only _now_ a creep?"

Riku snorted, "Damn it Sora, you figured me out too soon."

"Ha _ha_." Sora tightened his grip on the blanket, curling up on his own as if the weather got colder out of the blue, even though it was summer. "What time is it anyway? 12 pm? Because that is when I want to wake up."

Growing tired of his position, Riku switched so he was lying on his back. Only when he felt comfortable did he speak, starting an entirely different subject.

"Hey, do you think the Snow Queen truly exists?"

Sora's eyes opened again, brows perking up, interested.

"The Snow Queen?" He was not really asking as if he had no clue Who Riku was talking about. It was more of a statement than a question, but Riku answered him anyway.

"Yeah. You know, the legend of the Snow Queen? The one we heard about from that mysterious woman yesterday?" He looked over, seeing that Sora was still hiding under his blanket, and grinned, "Are you being amnesic again, _Sora_?" Riku made sure to stretch his name.

Sora pushed his blanket down too forcefully and practically cried, "I am not amnes─" He gasped in shock upon realizing something, "What do you mean _again_?!" Riku could not help but snort, and it only fueled the irritation building up inside his friend.

Sora pouted, but dismissed Riku's pestering and asked, "I can remember yesterday _pretty_ well thank you. I was just wondering why you brought it up."

Riku hummed. He knew Sora was just surprised, but thought it was a nice opportunity to bother him. When did he ever let such opportunities to go to waste? Never.

"Just curious is all."

Sora sat properly on his bed, now that he was fully awake. He could swear Riku just grinned in victory out of the corner of his eyes. He climbed out of bed, but only after he jabbed Riku in the side playfully, to which Riku just laughed.

They met a woman with short blue hair yesterday, when they were on their way to the river just a couple blocks away from their houses. She told them an interesting story about the Snow Queen.

The Snow Queen, according to the woman, ruled over black small creatures named the Heartless. She was powerful, unfriendly, and her heart was icy, living up to her title. The Snow Queen, despite the number of Heartless serving her, felt lonely, and people believed she wished someone would stay with her. However, and because of her powers and the circumstances she lived under, being the queen of a frosty castle and all, no one managed to stay alive near her for too long.

Sora felt unease raging inside him soon after the woman finished telling that story, for a reason he could not really grasp. The whole thing made him nervous, but he did not wish to show it, lest Riku mocked him for being a worrywart regarding a stupid legend.

What the woman, or Aqua, as she called herself, told them next only further ignited his concerns.

_"Sora, do you like Riku?"_

_Sora clenched his left hand, answering without second-guessing, "Of course I like him, he's my best friend!" He made sure to look at Riku while saying so, thinking maybe if he did not, his friend would not believe him._

_"Good." Aqua smiled kindly. "So then, if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost," She said next, growing a bit serious, "Or say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone."_

_Both boys stared at her inquisitively, but she continued anyway, "You make sure to stay with him and keep him safe."_

_Sora glanced at Riku, and the latter did too, a bit unsure why Aqua was saying all of that._

_"That's your job, Sora." Aqua concluded._

It was bizarre, like Aqua predicted something. She did not want to say it, so the least she could do was to alarm them. _Sora specifically_.

Sora would definitely help Riku if he ever needed a hand, for he was his best friend. That was not even something you need to ask from Sora anyway, because he would do it regardless. Yet hearing about the legend of a creepy queen, then immediately being warned about the future in an indirect way, did not sit right with him.

Suddenly, Sora stumbled forward. He looked down and saw what messed up his balance. A pillow.

He glanced up, looking towards his bed. Riku was lying on his stomach now, relying on his crossed arms to keep him still. His silver hair was resting on his back, but a couple of strands managed to escape the others and hung loose around his shoulders.

"For how long are you going to keep staring at your bathroom door, _Sora_?"

It was then that Sora realized he dived too deep into his cluster of thoughts, that he did not even attempt to get inside the bathroom to wash up and get ready for the day. He bent, grabbing the pillow. Riku’s damn sixth sense perked up like a cat, and he immediately pushed himself up to sit properly to catch the pillow flying his way. He smirked smugly at him, and Sora wished he had another pillow.

"Sorry, you missed my beautiful face."

"Show off." Sora said just before the door of the bathroom banged shut.

Inside, a wide smile invaded Sora's lips, as he shoved his anxiety aside.


	2. And He Was Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wahh this came late sorry T^T I wrote it forever ago but never got the chance to post it ahaha\\\\\

**_Chapter Two: And He Was Gone_ **

The crunching sound of footsteps on the cool grass combined with the eerie silence of the area made a melody Sora was not a fan of. It was almost winter, so the season was too eager to bless the townies with its chilly atmosphere. Sora did not hate winter. Hate was too big of a word to describe his mixed feelings about it. He was sure of one thing though, that summer was better.

Sora woke up on his own this morning. No Riku to wake him up for a reason he was determined to find out. He was so used to Riku waking him up on most days that the mere thought of waking up to see an empty room irritated him.

His steps sped up, lips pursed as sudden dread filled his entire body that he wanted to reach the area in which he and Riku usually hung out as soon as possible. Sora was not the thinking type. All kinds of assumptions tried to manipulate his mind regarding why Riku went ahead without him. At once, Sora clinched both hands into fists, squeezing annoyingly and feeling those thoughts vanishing. Soon, he would see Riku. Then he would explain himself, and the foreign emotion Sora was suffering from would fade away like snow melting under the sun.

Finally, he caught a glimpse of the river. There was a huge tree just a couple blocks away from it. The river separated this side of the town from the forest. The two boys used to play around here a lot as kids. But when they grew older, their teenage spirit urged them to investigate even further, specifically the other side of the river. That choice did not please their parents when they found out of their little adventure. That still did not stop the boys from going for it anyway many times later. They never found the witch every soul in their town liked to talk about though, which was basically the sole goal of their venture.

By the time Sora got closer, he saw the figure standing by the riverbed. He could recognize that shiny silver hair anywhere. A smile spread over Sora’s lips as he called for his friend, forgetting for a moment that he was a bit upset. Riku was probably too immersed in whatever he had found interesting in the forest that he flinched. His shoulders relaxed soon after, but he turned around discreetly.

Sora was about to open his mouth to complain about why Riku left him behind when he stopped dead in his tracks, the grass underneath his feet crunching in response to the sudden halt. 

_Something was off._

That was the first thing popping inside his cluttered head. He frowned, eyes squeezing in confusion.

_Was Riku… glaring at him?_

The dread from before came back stronger than ever, gripping his heart and squeezing all the calm out like lemon juice. His senses were on high alert, and panic was beginning to invade his soul. It was like there was a hidden mood button somewhere, and someone had clicked it, replacing the quiet with dismay.

“R-Riku?”

Sora was not even aware his lips were still functional, as he doubted his brain was capable of forming any words, let alone spelling them. His legs were like noodles as he failed to stop his emotions from causing his limps to shake. Yet with what little resolve he had, he managed to stand his ground, and call his friend's name.

It was then when Riku just, _smirked_.

The next thing Sora knew, the river’s stream sloshed upwards like a big wave, sending millions of drops around. Time seemed like it stopped for a mere second, just for Sora to see the wave wiggling and directly transforming into some kind of a watery creature with a huge mouth. Sora could swear it was just a second, but the scene was too frightening and unreal it forced him to jerk back in disbelief. Right there and then, Riku disappeared as the big wave consumed him. Sora’s instincts had forced his arm to flare up as if Riku’s hand was within his reach. It was not. In fact, it happened in the blink of an eye Sora did not comprehend what had occurred until he noticed his best friend was gone.

A gasp escaped his throat.

Sora felt the cool tears running down his cheeks as his body jolted tense. His chest was heaving repeatedly. He felt as if _he_ was the one that watery creature swallowed. His lungs screamed for oxygen that he did nothing but take in huge gulps of air for them to fill up and relax. His arm was outstretched upwards. Sora was not exactly sure why it was. His brain was still boosting up that nothing made sense. The hazy surroundings were slightly coming in focus. Sora just noted his vision had got blurry at some point. He struggled to think straight, the side of his head pulsed roughly, like someone was hammering them with no mercy.

Soon, he managed to point out the familiar blue ceiling, and the white fan that was not working. Sora blinked twice. Nothing was moving like jelly anymore. He shut his eyes closed, and could finally feel his body relax, all tension leaving his body.

_It was just a dream._

Whatever he had just witnessed was not part of this reality. It was not real, just another stupid dream. His emotions started a rampage inside his heart though, and as a result, his mind was slowly turning into a black void, dragging his sanity within it.

This was why Sora did not like to _think_. If this was reality, and that from moments ago was a dream, he needed solid proof. He needed to see…

_Riku!_

Like a rocket launching into outer space, Sora jerked himself up too fast, throwing aside his blanket and immediately sprinting towards the window. He staggered along the way but refused to slow down. He stepped outside and walked on the cold gutters of his house until he reached Riku’s window. With a shaking hand, he tried pushing it open to no avail. Riku was too cautious of a person to keep his window open. Sora was pissed, but the fact that he could feel his heart dangling from its place and threatening to fall is what made his frustration disperse in defeat.

Sora banged on the icy glass next, the chilly wind engulfing his body as he continued to knock. While his body heat was slipping away, realization hit him. It was fall, which meant going out with only a sleeveless white tank and red shorts was not exactly idle. However, he was not about to turn around just to bring back the coziness he had felt under his warm blankets moments ago.

After what seemed like an eternity, he saw Riku coming towards him, confusion eating his expression before he unlocked his window. Once it was slightly open for his voice to carry over to his friend, Riku spoke.

“Sora, just what are youꟷ” A pause.

Sora was breathing hard, hand still hung in the air where the window’s door was, as if time was frozen. Like Sora himself was frozen. He wore the expression of someone witnessing something out of this world. It was not from awe, nor fear. He seemed as if he just knew what relief felt like. As if he was experiencing it for the first time that he got overwhelmed and could not mutter a word.

“Sora?” Riku’s tone instantly switched to concern. Not only did Sora wake up at literally 6 am, which was a miracle in itself and Riku wished he could praise him for that, but he also banged his window like a mad man running away from a vicious killer.

“Is something wronꟷ” He gulped down the remaining words. _Stupid Riku, of course something was wrong! Stop stating the obvious and just get to the poi_ _ꟷ_

The next thing he knew, Riku was shoved inside and onto the hard floor as Sora practically threw himself on him, capturing his waist and interlocking his fingers from behind. Riku let out an oomph just before pain electrolyzed his whole back from the hit. He raised his head, scratching it from behind, hoping the gesture would send the discomfort away. His vision dimmed for a second as a side effect. He glanced down at his friend, about to scold him when he felt it.

The small body hugging him started to shake. It was only a few seconds before the shaking increased as muffled sobs filled Riku’s room, alerting all of his emotions like flames burning his chest. His arms jerked upwards in a flash, yet failed to fall on Sora’s back to soothe the crying boy. Riku’s movements were completely controlled by an invisible force, like a doll with many strings attached to its body parts, unable to move on its own.

Only when he felt his chest getting wet from the warm drops of tears did Riku finally accept that Sora was, _in fact,_ crying. Awoken from his temporary coma, Riku tried raising his upper body as he attempted to gently push Sora away. That move was futile, as Sora’s deathly grip only strengthened, indicating he was having none of whatever Riku wanted to do. Exhaling, Riku straightened himself on one elbow while his other arm cradled Sora’s back, moving them both in a sitting position. Sora’s arms clutched Riku’s waist like shackles, while his sobbing continued. Riku did not know what to do next. He figured the first step would be to move away from the cold floor. But what came next was a blank.

Too many thoughts swirled inside his head like aggravating bees. He could come up with many guesses as to why Sora was holding into him and crying like his life depended on it. Yet none of them won against the others and proved itself right, so Riku was left with no choice but to wander around in circles, trying to find and connect the missing dots to reach a conclusion that actually made sense.

“Sora?” Riku called his friend. He figured maybe he just needed to voice his thoughts and let the boy explain himself.

Sora, flinching the moment Riku’s voice reached his ears, squeezed and buried his face even deeper in the older boy’s chest.

Okay, bad move. _Just what part of “I don’t handle crying very well” did Sora not understand?_

Switching to plan B, Riku started to soothe his friend by moving his hand up and down Sora’s back. Maybe giving him enough time to calm himself was the real solution. Riku had nothing to lose anyway, so he decided to give silence a chance to rule over the stage.

As seconds stretched to minutes, Riku found himself growing more worried. As much as he did not mind being used as a teddy bear, the suspense was eating him alive he needed to put an end to it. However, just when his lips had parted, he heard a muffled sound. His hand came to a stop as he tried to flail around and fix their uncomfortable position.

“Sora, what did youꟷ”

“ _You are okay._ ”

Riku furrowed his brows, a bit taken back. He could not help but snort, just playfully, as he answered.

“Clearly. It is _you_ who is not okay.”

As if coming back to his senses, Sora slowly untangled his fingers, pulling away till he was sitting cross-legged. Riku, finally free, drew back his legs to match his friend’s position. Sora wiped his eyes next, brushing the evidence of tears away. His sobbing died down to tiny sniffles as Riku fumbled around with what he should say next.

“Sorry.”, sniffle, “This was totally random, huh?”, sniffle. He chuckled weakly.

Eyebrow wrinkling in disagreement, Riku's features shifted in concern. “Random is an understatement. Sora, you _freaked_ me out.” He was not upset. Not in the slightest, and Sora knew his friend was just shocked. It was unusual for him to barge into Riku’s room like he had seen a ghost.

Riku just needed an explanation, yet Sora found it hard to express his feelings as his mind was replaying that dream like an old tape. It was silly, now that he thought about it. Sora had seen a couple of nightmares before, but to actually believe one of them could merge with reality and become real? To actually allow it to stir him up this much and force him to seek his friend and make sure he was still there?

“Sora,” Riku’s voice was registered inside Sora’s head just when he felt his friend’s fingers brushing his shoulder ever so delicately, like he was scared one wrong move would awake emotions Sora wanted under control for the time being. “Being used as a hugging pillow is one thing, but leaving me on radio silence is a whole other thing I am not really a fan of.” His hand finally grasped Sora’s shoulder. “Tell me what is wrong.” He squeezed, wishing this would somehow ease Sora just a bit.

It was a staring contest afterwards. Neither boys was aware they were actually part of one, at least not until Sora snorted, actually _giggled_ , before he sniffled.

“You know what’s wrong? _You_ being this concerned. Where did all the sassiness go?”

Riku’s mouth was agape for a couple of seconds, until he also chuckled, pulling his hand away and using it along with the other to lean back on the floor. “So that’s what I get for being worried?”

Sora sniffled again, looking down at his lap where his fingers were interlocked securely. “You can’t blame me. I am not used to this rant-away-and-I-will-listen kind of Riku.”

Riku did not answer right away, giving himself a bit of time to filter his next question.

“Is that your way of saying you don’t want to talk about whatever that made you cry?” He asked, curious.

It took Sora a couple of moments to finally tilt his head so their eyes could meet, then he smiled. It did not quite reach his eyes, but it was still a sweet smile Riku appreciated. “Maybe.”

Sighing, Riku threw his head behind. He suddenly felt the need to stare at his ceiling. “Fair enough.”

Ever since their encounter with Aqua a couple weeks ago, Sora became restless. Riku once did not meet him at the usual time because he got busy, and Sora ended up blasting into his room distressed, thinking he was gone or something. It was unlike Sora, to be this anxious for no reason. Sora’s troubled expression whenever the Snow Queen was mentioned did not go unnoticed by Riku either.

“Hey Riku.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think…” Riku waited for him to continue, but Sora did not. It made him glance down, only to see Sora was fidgeting, obviously stressed over whatever he wanted to say. Riku decided to enjoy the silence between them, giving Sora all the time he needed.

Sora gulped down a lump he never noticed was there. The words on the tip of his mouth, ready to slip away the moment his lips would part. Sora questioned himself, as insecurity circled him like a snake, whether he really wanted to hear Riku’s answer or not. What if Riku said something his heart could not accept?

“Sora?” Riku, not exactly happy seeing how hesitant Sora had been lately, urged him to talk. He breathed out a sigh of resignation when Sora stayed tight-lipped, playing with the hem of his tank.

“Sora.” Riku called, a bit urgently this time. Once it reached Sora, he immediately looked up. “Let me remind you of three important things that have probably slipped from your,” Riku leaned forward while speaking to ruffle the brunette’s hair gently, “stupid head.”

Sora grunted, patting Riku’s hand away. “Oh yeah, enlighten me, Mr.I-know-it-all.” Sora teased, sniggering. Deep down, he was grateful for the change of subject. Sora simply concluded he was not ready, _emotionally_ , to receive an answer for his question.

“First, you are not wearing warm clothes.” To that, Sora examined his attire, his brain finally proceeding a simple fact: he was cold. “Second, we are still sitting on the chilly floor.”Riku swiftly jumped on his feet, then outstretched his hand for Sora to take. “And third,” he pulled his friend upwards effortlessly when their hands clasped. Riku swept by Sora afterwards, walking towards the open window and finally closing it. “Thanks to someone’s sudden attack, we kept the window open for long enough that my whole room is like a freezer now.” He turned around, crossing his arms and signaling that he was done.

Sora could not help but chuckle. “Oh thank you for stating the obvious, Ri- _ku_.” He liked to stretch the second part of his friend’s name whenever he wanted to tease him, though he doubted Riku disliked that. Riku, in fact, liked how Sora spelled his name.

“Oh please, I bet your body is _now_ registering the decrease in the temperature.”

Sora only nodded, bringing his hand close to his chin in a thinking gesture. “Then, I should just recharge.”

Riku faked being surprised, a gasp escaped his mouth, “Oh no, don’t tell me…”

A Sora-esq bright smile took over his best friend’s face as he stepped towards Riku’s bed. He climbed on and covered his whole body minus his head. Then he curled up on his own like a cat to suck in as much heat from the comfortable blanket as possible. Sora nuzzled into the pillow, brimming with satisfaction as he yawned. “So warm!” He cooed happily.

Riku uncrossed his arms, chuckling and closing the distance between them in a couple of steps.

“And here I was thinking of praising you for waking up early today.”

Sora flipped on his back, never letting go of the blanket while doing so. “But Ri- _ku_ , I need to recharge.” He grinned, showing two lovely rows of white teeth, “It’s your fault for reminding me anyway.”

Riku let out a laugh, “You are unbelievable.”

Sora then pompously asked Riku to join him, to which he shook his head, saying something about how morning was when people wake up, not sleep, but of course, it went unheard by his friend as he drifted off to dream land.

Riku sat near the edge of the bed, where Sora’s head rested only inches away from him. He wore such a peaceful look it was impossible to imagine he was anxious only minutes ago.

It was not hard to guess why Sora was that frightened. Nothing would wake him up from deep slumber, this early in the morning no less, but nightmares. It was definitely one unlike any others, too disturbing it freaked him out. Sora always bottled things up because he did not want to bother others with his own problems. So for him to lose control over his feelings due to a nightmare, forcing him to seek his friend and make sure he was okay? Riku could easily guess who that dream centered on.

Riku did not regret stating the obvious just moments ago. He knew if he did, Sora’s fatigue would catch up with him and he would go back to sleep. That was Riku’s intention all along. Truth be told, he really hoped Sora talked about his worries. He was certainly curious, but Sora was too agitated and unsettled Riku decided to distract him because he hated seeing him upset.

Sora, on the other hand, was thankful Riku steered his attention away. He supposed if he was given another chance later, he would ask Riku, but only when his heart was ready for whatever answer his friend had in store for him.

Sora did not need to ask that question though, because Riku indirectly answered it in two different stages weeks later. The first was when Riku suddenly changed, and the second was when he left.

_“Do you think things will change between us one day?”_


End file.
